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Seawater electrolysis is a viable method for producing hydrogen on a large scale and low-cost. However, the catalyst activity during the seawater splitting process will dramatically degrade as salt concentrations increasing. Herein, CoP is discovered that could reject chloride ions far from catalyst in electrolyte based on molecular dynamic simulation. Thus, a binder-free electrode is designed and constructed by in-situ growth of homogeneous CoP on rGO nanosheets wrapped around the surface of Ti fiber felt for seawater splitting. As expected, the as-obtained CoP/rGO@Ti electrode exhibits good catalytic activity and stability in alkaline electrolyte. Especially, benefitting from the highly effective repulsive Cl − intrinsic characteristic of CoP, the catalyst maintains good catalytic performance with saturated salt concentration, and the overpotential increasing is less than 28 mV at 10 mA cm −2 from 0 M to saturated NaCl in electrolyte. Furthermore, the catalyst for seawater splitting performs superior corrosion-resistance with a low solubility of 0.04%. This work sheds fresh light into the development of efficient HER catalysts for salinity tolerance hydrogen evolution. Seawater electrolysis for hydrogen production is limited by the poor salinity tolerance of catalysts. CoP was found to repel chlorine while attracting H2O molecules to form a thin layer on the catalyst surface, thus constructing a corrosion-resistant CoP/rGO@Ti catalyst for seawater splitting.

NRC publication: Yes

The present work was conducted to screen and identify biocontrol bacteria that effectively reduce the severity of corn stalk rot (CSR) and clarify the antifungal activity of secondary metabolites. The bacterial strain (BM21) was isolated from corn rhizosphere soil that effectively reduced CSR in pot experiments. On the basis of phylogenetic reconstructions, 16S rRNA sequence analysis, and biochemical and physiological reactions, BM21 was identified as Bacillus velezensis . The strain exhibited remarkable antifungal activity against Fusarium graminearum , a pathogenic fungus that causes CSR. Extracellular antifungal substances (10%) isolated from BM21 inhibited F. graminearum mycelial growth by 79.2%, conidial germination by 84.0%, and conidial production by 78.1%. In addition, the extracellular antifungal substances caused mycelial malformation and ultra-structural changes. The extracellular antifungal substances were sensitive to heat and showed a degree of resistance to ultraviolet radiation. The optimum pH for antifungal activity was 6–8. In pot experiments, irrigation with aqueous extracts from BM21 (1.0 mL/plant) reduced CSR incidence by 72.4–77.4%. B. velezensis BM21 effectively reduced CSR incidence and showed a potential as a biocontrol agent to control CSR.

Objective: To generate synthetic CT (sCT) images with high quality from CBCT and planning CT (pCT) for dose calculation by using deep learning methods. Methods: 169 NPC patients with a total of 20926 slices of CBCT and pCT images were included. In this study the CycleGAN, Pix2pix and U-Net models were used to generate the sCT images. The Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), and Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) were used to quantify the accuracy of the proposed models in a testing cohort of 34 patients. Radiation dose were calculated on pCT and sCT following the same protocol. Dose distributions were evaluated for 4 patients by comparing the dose-volume-histogram (DVH) and 2D gamma index analysis. Results: The average MAE and RMSE values between sCT by three models and pCT reduced by 15.4 HU and 26.8 HU at least, while the mean PSNR and SSIM metrics between sCT by different models and pCT added by 10.6 and 0.05 at most, respectively. There were only slight differences for DVH of selected contours between different plans. The passing rates of 2D gamma index analysis under 3 mm/3% 3 mm/2%, 2 mm/3%and 2 mm/2% criteria were all higher than 95%. Conclusions: All the sCT had achieved better evaluation metrics than those of original CBCT, while the performance of CycleGAN model was proved to be best among three methods. The dosimetric agreement confirmed the HU accuracy and consistent anatomical structures of sCT by deep learning methods.

Background/Objective: Sarcopenic obesity (SO), a pathological syndrome characterized by the co-existence of diminished muscle mass and excessive adipose accumulation, significantly compromises the quality of life in older adults. The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate the efficacy of exercise, nutritional interventions, and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in preventing and managing SO in middle-aged and older adults. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, and CNKI for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) until January 2025. Meta-analyses were performed using the random-effects model and fixed-effects model based on the degree of heterogeneity and calculating the mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Subgroup analyses compared the intervention types. Results: Twenty-nine RCTs (1622 participants) were included. Exercise interventions significantly reduced the body fat percentage (MD = −2.79%, 95% CI: −3.94, −1.64, p < 0.001, I2 = 74%), fat mass (MD = −6.77 kg, 95% CI: −11.48, −2.06, p = 0.005, I2 = 98%), waist circumference (MD = −2.05 cm, 95% CI: −3.64, −0.46, p = 0.01, I2 = 0%) and LDL-C (MD: −7.45 mg/dL, 95% CI: −13.82, −1.07, p = 0.02, I2 = 0%), while improving handgrip strength (MD = 2.35 kg, 95% CI: 1.99, 2.70, p < 0.001, I2 = 52%) and gait speed (MD = 0.19 m/s, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.24, p < 0.001, I2 = 89%). Mixed training outperformed resistance-only regimens in reducing the body fat percentage and enhancing functional outcomes. NMES reduced the body fat percentage (MD = −2.01%, 95% CI: −3.54, −0.48, p = 0.01, I2 = 93%) and waist circumference (MD = −1.72 cm, 95% CI: −2.35, −1.09, p < 0.001, I2 = 0%) while increasing the Skeletal Muscle Index (MD = 0.26 kg/m2, 95% CI: 0.22, 0.29, p < 0.001, I2 = 38%). Synergy with nutritional supplementation amplified these effects. Nutritional interventions modestly improved total fat-free mass (MD = 0.77 kg, 95% CI: 0.04, 1.50, p = 0.04, I2 = 0%) and handgrip strength (MD = 1.35 kg, 95% CI: 0.71, 2.00, p < 0.001, I2 = 0%) but showed no significant impact on the metabolic markers (TG, TC, glucose, hemoglobin, and HOMA-IR). Conclusions: Exercise, particularly multimodal regimens combining aerobic and resistance training, is the cornerstone for improving body composition and physical function in SO. NMES serves as an effective adjunct for accelerating fat loss, while nutritional strategies require integration with exercise or prolonged implementation to yield clinically meaningful outcomes. Future research should prioritize standardized diagnostic criteria and long-term efficacy assessments of multimodal interventions.

Highlights Aramid nanofiber/MXene-reinforced polyelectrolyte hydrogels were designed to achieve absorption-dominated electromagnetic interference shielding under the premise of relatively high conductivity. The multifunctional composite hydrogels exhibited outstanding mechanical performance, exceptional adhesion strength, excellent electromagnetic interference shielding and reliable capability for monitoring human motion signals. Conductive hydrogels have garnered widespread attention as a versatile class of flexible electronics. Despite considerable advancements, current methodologies struggle to reconcile the fundamental trade-off between high conductivity and effective absorption-dominated electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, as dictated by classical impedance matching theory. This study addresses these limitations by introducing a novel synthesis of aramid nanofiber/MXene-reinforced polyelectrolyte hydrogels. Leveraging the unique properties of polyelectrolytes, this innovative approach enhances ionic conductivity and exploits the hydration effect of hydrophilic polar groups to induce the formation of intermediate water. This critical innovation facilitates polarization relaxation and rearrangement in response to electromagnetic fields, thereby significantly enhancing the EMI shielding effectiveness of hydrogels. The electromagnetic wave attenuation capacity of these hydrogels was thoroughly evaluated across both X-band and terahertz band frequencies, with further investigation into the impact of varying water content states—hydrated, dried, and frozen—on their electromagnetic properties. Moreover, the hydrogels exhibited promising capabilities beyond mere EMI shielding; they also served effectively as strain sensors for monitoring human motions, indicating their potential applicability in wearable electronics. This work provides a new approach to designing multifunctional hydrogels, advancing the integration of flexible, multifunctional materials in modern electronics, with potential applications in both EMI shielding and wearable technology.

Apoptosis has been reported to drive regeneration in many species. Executioner caspases, the key effectors in apoptosis, are responsible for production and secretion of various pro-regenerative signals from apoptotic cells to the surrounding cells. However, whether executioner caspase activation (ECA) can promote regeneration without inducing apoptosis is poorly understood. Here, by generating transgenic mice carrying a lineage tracing system for cells that have experienced ECA, we demonstrate that ECA occurs in a few hepatocytes in homeostatic livers. The fraction of hepatocytes with ECA dramatically expands during regeneration after partial hepatectomy (PHx) or carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) treatment. Interestingly, rather than undergoing apoptosis, the majority of hepatocytes with ECA survive and proliferate during liver regeneration. Inhibition of ECA in livers results in reduced hepatocyte proliferation and impaired regeneration, whereas increasing ECA to a level sufficient to kill hepatocytes also impedes regeneration, suggesting that ECA needs to be precisely controlled at a sublethal level. Mechanistically, we show that ECA promotes hepatocyte proliferation through enhancing JAK/STAT3 activity. Our work reveals an essential apoptosis-independent role of executioner caspases in liver regeneration.

Ageing drives a vicious cycle of insulin resistance (IR) and atherosclerosis through shared pathological pathways. This review aims to synthesise the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms that connect ageing, IR, and atherosclerosis, with a particular focus on oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and metabolic disturbances. We systematically summarise evidence demonstrating how age-related mitochondrial dysfunction promotes IR, which in turn accelerates atherosclerotic progression. Based on this integration, we conclude that the intertwined nature of these processes reveals promising therapeutic targets. Targeting these shared pathways, such as with senolytic agents or anti-inflammatory agents, may offer novel strategic insights for concurrently mitigating IR and atherosclerosis in the ageing population.

In 2020 early summer, a historically severe rainy season struck East Asia, causing extensive damage to life and property. Subseasonal forecast of this event challenges the limits of rainy season predictability. Employing the integrated atmospheric model across scales and the Sunway supercomputer, we conducted ensemble one-month forecasts at global 3 km, variable 4–60 km, and global 60 km resolutions. The global convection-permitting forecast accurately captures the rainband, while other forecasts exhibited northward and weaker shifts due to the northward shifts of the atmospheric rivers over Japan, attributed to intensified Western North Pacific Subtropical High (WNPSH). Further, the double-ITCZ-like tropical rainfall pattern in Western Pacific in global convection-permitting forecast contributes to a more accurate WNPSH and rainband. In contrast, other forecasts show a single-ITCZ-like pattern in Western Pacific, leading to a northward-shifted WNPSH and rainband, advocating the importance of accurately representing tropical convections, as they can significantly affect mid-/high-latitude weather and climate.

Edge computing has become one of the key enablers for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications in the industrial Internet of Things in the fifth generation communication systems and is also a promising technology in the future sixth generation communication systems. In this work, we consider the application of edge computing to smart factories for mission critical task offloading through wireless links. In such scenarios, although high end-to-end delays from the generation to completion of tasks happen with low probability, they may incur severe casualties and property loss and should be seriously treated. Inspired by the risk management theory widely used in finance, we adopt the Conditional Value at Risk to capture the tail of the delay distribution. An upper bound of the Conditional Value at Risk is derived through analysis of the queues both at the devices and the edge computing servers. We aim to find out the optimal offloading policy taking into consideration both the average and the worst-case delay performance of the system. Given that the formulated optimization problem is a non-convex mixed integer nonlinear programming problem, a decomposition into subproblems is performed and a two-stage heuristic algorithm is proposed. The simulation results validate our analysis and indicate that the proposed algorithm can reduce the risk in both the queueing and end-to-end delay.